A British Shia's View On Saddam's Execuction Print E-mail
Monday, 01 January 2007

saddam_smallWhat a sad day , and what a humiliation to our Arab people and Arab masses when the enemy of our people, The American occupier and its puppets and collaborators execute the legitimate president of Iraq on the day of Eid.

Let me set one thing straight, I have never been a fan of Saddam Hussein nor of his regime and I always hoped that the Iraqi people would be able of ousting him and bringing him to justice like I wish the same for all dictators and war criminals around the world including Bush, Olmert and Blair.

Nevertheless, not one hair on my head would envisage accepting foreign occupation and the ousting of an Arab leader by the enemy of our nation, no matter how bloodthirsty , oppressive or corrupted that leader can be.

And yes I understand the personal anger and emotions of the victims of Saddam’s ruthless rule especially among Shi’a Iraqi’s and Kurds, but this should by no means be a reason to put personal vendetta above the freedom and the sovereignty of our people as a whole.

Should the frustration against the ruthless rule of every Arab dictator be solved by inviting foreign occupation and collaborating with it? And how is that a constructive path towards the future of our people?

Are we blind to the violent and chaotic situation in Iraq today and can’t we see that under Saddam the situation was much better for the average Iraqi citizen despite an embargo?

And did we forget that before the embargo Iraq was one of the most prosperous and developed Arab states? And who is responsible for the death of millions of Iraqi’s by Embargo and by war afterwards? Saddam or the occupation?

But even if Iraq would be a paradise today, how can honorable men and women enjoy life under the boots of foreign occupation?

I am a Shi’a Arab and according to CNN and BBC I am supposed to be cheering the death of Saddam, but instead I am feeling a deep sense of sorrow and sympathy with him that I never had before.

Saddam might have been a dictator, but today he is the martyr of the Arab people and of the Arab resistance not only in Iraq, but also in Palestine and in Lebanon.

Yes Saddam died as a martyr to his Nation and as a resistance leader in captivity. He walked proudly towards his fate without compromising with the occupier and in my book this alone makes him a hero and this alone makes me forget anything he might have inflicted upon my people.

How can I cheer the death of a legal Arabic president who is ousted by force through an illegal invasion based upon false pretexts and lies. And how can I recognize anything based upon that occupation? Whether it is elections, governments, tribunal or any other products of the American rule?

The government in Iraq is even less legitimate then the Vichy government that collaborated with the Nazi’s. The Vichy government was already in power by the sovereign decision of the French people and decided to collaborate and that was enough for general De Gaulle to consider it as a bunch of traitors and fight it.

This Iraqi government is totally a result of occupation and collaboration and is therefore more to be condemned and less legal and legitimate than the Vichi government ever was. The only legal and legitimate representative of the Iraqi people is the National Iraqi resistance.

The martyrdom of Saddam was meant to be a poisoned present from Bush and his puppets in Iraq to the Arabs and the Muslims on this Eid Holliday, and they maybe missed the meaning of this Islamic Holliday. The Eid al Adha is the feast of Sacrifice where Muslims celebrate the sacrifice made by Abraham to save his Son Ismael.

The symbolism of this is paramount, as Martyrdom is conceived as a sacrifice to save the Nation and its freedom. Saddam would have not wanted to die on any other day, and once again the blunders of the enemy will continue to feed the will of resistance and struggle.

On this day, I am no more willing to see Saddam as the dictator who must be brought to trial as even justice can be corrupted in the service of world forces of oppression and by double standards. A tribunal for Saddam and a Tribunal for the death of Hariri are very necessary even if they lead to destroy a country while a Tribunal for Sharon is to be prevented by all means.

A corrupted and collaborating government in Lebanon is supported as the only legitimate government even when the majority of its people are demonstrating against it, while in Ukraine and Georgia these demonstrations are considered more legitimate than an elected government.

In Palestine the elected government is being boycotted and the people is being punished for voting. Calling for early elections in Palestine is good and legitimate and a way to solve the problems while calling for early elections in Lebanon is unconstitutional and undemocratic and a coup.

This is the world under the management of the United States and its lackeys in Europe, some sort of farm where only the farmer sets the rules of the game and decides to ride his animals or slaughter them at any time according to his own impulses and interests.

But we are no animals in a farm Mr Bush, and our only representatives are the resistance movements in Iraq, in Lebanon and in Palestine they represent our revival and the hope of liberating our land from foreign occupation and oppression.

Saddam Hussein might have lived as an oppressor and a dictator, but he died as a resistant and freedom fighter and this is how he will be remembered. God bless his soul.

Source: iraqsolidaritycampaign.blogspot.com




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Readers have left 19 comments.
Raja: Quote

Shia or Sunni, Black, White or Oriental, Arab, Asian, African, American or European we are all Muslim and should be united under the banner of Islam. ‘’There is only 1 God and the final prophet is Mohammed (pbuh).’’Thank you for producing this article, it clears up lots of misrepresentations in the media, who try and divide the global Muslim community.Muslims want peace, Muslims need peace and we want peace through our own peaceful solutions, NOT through American and European warmongers and gun-ships. Eid Mubarak to all.
(1) 2007-01-02 11:14:27
hussein: Quote

salaam

this may be the most pathetic article i have read on this excellent site, today not only the shia but people with consciounces are pleased that this dicatator an arab hitler if you like is no longer here able to terrorise the people. what has happened to us if we can call a man who commited murder on such a scale a martyr.

A martyr is one who not only dies in the way of Allah but lives in the way of Allah, this man lived his life in a manner which could please only the bloodthirsty and vicious. i feel for a muslim or even a human being to call this man a martyr shows how far we have become removed from truth, because we should be uniting to rid the world of such people.

we allbelieve this war was illegal most of us hate bush and blair for what they have done, and we pray they will face punishment for the massacre they commited, but dont let them or their actions blind us from this man and his evil.

today it is better to remember the hundreds of thousands of victims who were slaughtered by this tyrant, and the millions of families who have lost blood relatives due to his actions.
(2) 2007-01-02 11:30:33
Shazy: Quote

This man Saddam Hussein used Islam when it suited him to further his aims. His claims to being a Muslim did not stop him from ordering the deaths of many thousands of Muslims. He ordered the Scud missiles tobe fired towards Tel Aviv because he wanted to raise his standing in the Muslim world. They posed as much a threat to the Palestinians and they did to the Israelis. He did it because whatever the outcome he was in a win-win situation. If the Israelis did nothing in response he could claim a great victory, if they had responded the Muslim world would have gathered around him.
Like all the other dictators in the Middle East he ran the country he ruled for own benefit. He robbed his own people and let them starve.
At leat half of the angry protestation about the US-Uk invasion is rooted in the shame we feel, but cannot admit to, that we cannot get rid of the dictators ourselves and establish stable peaceful fair societies.
(3) 2007-01-02 13:33:44
Guard the Guards: Quote

Please people, at the risk of sounding like a preacher, but here goes anyway, "Vengence is mine said the Lord"

Remember, and please feel free to ask any Iraqi Citizen, under Saddam, albeit a tyrant, Iraq had the most efficient Health, Education and Self Sufficiency system in the Arab World.

Fact: During the years of Sanctions imposed at the behest of the Veto weilding powers at the UN, namely, the UK, US and France, Iraq was brought to its knees, the infrastructure paralysed and the Citizens denied everyday normal life.

Fact: Under the Sanctions Regime, even Incubators and spare parts for, were banned, over 500,000 babies died. Yes, "FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND BABIES" died. That is in the 12 or so years of sanctions.

Whatever you might think of Saddam, the fact that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives have been lost since 2003 does not allow anyone to speak out without looking into the facts, past and present.
(4) 2007-01-02 14:22:52
Ajmal Masroor: Quote

I do not agree. Please would you advise your bloggers to stop criticising and framing me.

Imam Ajmal Masroor
(5) 2007-01-02 14:29:07
Islamic Torch: Quote

Shazy after all your comments what are you trying to say?

As for the article this is one voice of one individual, i assure you that the foreign force was in Iraq because they were allowed to be in Iraq.

Those who waved the flags and cheered on the day of Eid upon hearing the news that the Iraqi president was dead, will now sense that life under his rule was not as bad as they had thought it was.

As for the foreign forces in the middle east, why have they not left the middle east, the threat has been eliminated and what purpose do they intend to serve by remaining in the middle east.
(6) 2007-01-02 16:11:31
ROB: Quote

Propaganda is easy but reality is hard to bear for some whose staple diet is based on lies and deceit.

saddam did not rob iraq he invested in iraq it was under his rule that he managed to raise the literacy levels from 40 per cent to 95 per cent,it was under his rule that people were given free health and education.

iraq produced more PHDS than all the other arab countries in the middle east during his rule,he was the one who used oil money for the upliftment of iraqis, his fellow arab leaders put their money in western banks further helping their economies.

saddam hussain ruled with firmness against traiters from all sections of society,remember this the shias were in the army-the police-civil service and 35 of the most wanted on the deck of cards were shias,as joseph goebbels said repeat a lie often enough and people will beleive it seems they have succeeded with some people.

saddam has been lynched gangster style and taunted while waiting to be lynched for signing the death warrants of those who tried to kill the iraqi president in league with iranian agents during the iran iraq war,these people were tried over a three year period and found guilty,if today we are saying it is ok to commit treason and help the enemy then why is a man in prison in america for merely saying i would like to kill bush in jail sentenced to 20 years.

The kurds sided with iran and helped the irnanian army attack the iraqi army and take over halabja if that is not treason then what is,according to the c.i.a and the war college in america the gas that caused the deaths of hundreds of kurdish people was not in the arsenal of iraq, i am sure they would know best since they provided the chemicals.

during saddams rule of 35 years around 30,000 people died violently while putting down rebellions and treason,but in the last 3 years nealry 650,000 iraiqs have been raped-sodomised-tortured and blown to bits and the evil genocidal maniacs who have carried this out are lauded as great leaders and upholders of human rights.

I have to say joseph goebells was dead right when he said tell a lie often enough and people will believe it.
(7) 2007-01-02 16:13:28
Truth: Quote

@ Raja

No we are not all muslim, please do not practice religious fascism.
(8) 2007-01-02 18:16:22
Thoughtful: Quote

There seems to be some very interesting theories of how Moqtada al sadr is now being set up as the next in line for colonial justice. Other interesting theories are how the Iraqis are being and always have been encouraged to fight each other having been divided along Sunni Shia and kurd lines, just like in the days of colonialism.

I wonder how the media will help spin the Moqtada line having already helped achieve the division between Iraqis and always reporting Iraqis as belonging to sects rather than just as plain Iraqis. It is odd at how Iraqis have not been united at a time when their country came under an illegal innvasion and then occupation.

I also often wonder why muslims allow themselves to be labelled as Sunni, (sunnites),Shia (Shiites) and kurds which are labels given to them by those who would seek to divide them rather than something which was mentioend by the prophet Mohammed (pbuh). I have never read hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) mentioning Sunnis, Shias, Wahabbis etc...Shouldn't it be about what we have in common rather than what makes us different?
(9) 2007-01-02 18:32:10
Thoughtful: Quote

Hussein - you speak ill of the dead - Saddam Hussein is gone and will not come back. Hope you feel better now you have had your justice.

If this man killed thousands of his own and you say he did, I believe you but killing hundreds of thousands more and making milions more suffer and destroying Iraq in the process does not make justice for the thousands that may have been killed and suffered in the first place.

You can not kill and make more peple suffer to get justice for the people that have already been killed and in the process destroy a whole country. I cannot think of anywhere that this type of justice is handed out except to Muslims and in Muslim lands.
(10) 2007-01-02 18:43:41
hussein: Quote

salaam

my issue is not with the war and the terrible problems it has caused i feel it is pretty clear to all what a shambles the terrorists bush and blair have created.

my issue is with people trying to justify this by claiming saddam was something he wasnt, he has been described as a martyr in the article and i feel that to describe a mass murderer who used chemical weapons and torture as routine practice is very disrespectful.

only those who suffered and still suffer from saddams reign know what it was like and i hate the occupation and hope it ends but Islam is all about justice and because the occupiers are unjust it does mean we can rewrite history and so saddams evil cannot be ignored.

again i ask you to remember the victims of this cruel sadistic man in your prayers.
(11) 2007-01-03 14:03:47
Z: Quote

Who cares about Saddam. Man was the leader of the Baath' Party. He was the leader of a secular regime, imitating the ways of Stalin and Benito Mussolini. 'Poor' middle class sunni's, shia's and Christians in Iraq. No more major contracts and vast amount of money being pumped into their little tribal areas as well as their off-shore bank accounts. 'how sad'!

Reality is average Iraqi suffered under saddam and now they are being butchered under the terrorist occupying dogs. If the shia ruling majority think under the occupying dogs they will be given the upper hand in iraq they are gravely mistaken. Thus far, billions of dollars have already been pocketed by their politicians. These 'saviours' of Iraq after pocketing millions of dollars are moving out of the country.

Iraqi people can kiss goodbye to their oil, that was the only reason they were invaded. The occupying dogs are oil thristy, they dont care if Saddam massacred your tribe or killed your family. They want oil, and now they have it. The revival and insurgency of the shia was rather unexpected by the US and her fellow murdering scums. Well, whichever idiot coined and mastermined the invasion of Iraq created the biggest destruction and choas on the face of this earth. This isnt over with the execution of saddam, this is just the beginning and the invaders will get their share of choas and destruction for many years to come. The west has offically destroyed humanity.
(12) 2007-01-03 16:13:39
Yussuf: Quote

The article itself is good and unbiassed. It is still worth mentioning that Saddam was executed because of the 148 victims of the Dujail rebel village which attempted to kill him. And this was called a genocide of the Shias (unfortunately). I wonder why so many intenational media would talk about the supposedly mass massacre done by Saddam from the North to the South (specially to the Shias and the Kurds) when the "justice" the US and company have allowed hanged him for only a single massacre.

Wonder why Saddam was given to the Iraki government (sic!) which has no legitimacy instead of an International court?

And we have seen many leaders of this world cheered Saddam hanging (including Iranian premier).

But the reality is not the way the media is portraying it. (i.e Shia & Kurds genocide by Sunni muslims). It's all a game that they are playing with the sentiments of the Irakis and the nations around. And it is a pity that the Shias have dropped into such propaganda. They have been told that they will get power!!!.

I think that Rob made some important remarks for the people who are looking for justice. What about the Halabja massacre of Kurds? Was it really Saddams doing?

And as we know specially before the 1991 invasion of Iraq by the US force there were much more Shias in the government... They were called Irakis and there exist not the different sects that we are seeing nowadays.. They were all irakis.

And remember that Iraq have a certain religious sites for all Muslims (not only Shias or Sunnis or whatever sects) like Karbala, Najaf, Basorah and Baghdad itself. The last two places have had a large number of scholars of the classical period. People form around the world could go there before even after 1991 when Saddam was in power. What is it now for the coalition force? For those who are saying that they liberated Iraq from a tyran?

And what would it be in the future? Will it be peaceful or when we are going to Iraq and would wonder who have been a collabo! (a good parallell is about the Vichy govt in France where many French were collaborating with Hitler). And the fact is that in Iraq many Iraqis have been collaborating with the Bushies.

And stop dreaming about an Iraki govt which will be really free!!! let's see what the future lies.
(13) 2007-01-04 15:33:24
Faris: Quote

The king of Saudi Arabia and the Royal family are not dictators.Hussni Mubarak is not a dictator.Moammar Quadhafi is not either.Nor is Bashar Al-Assad.Nor are the traitors in Kuwait.Nor is the Qatari agents.Who else shall I mention?If there had been one real man amongst those this would have never ever happened.They are nothing but dummies.

Shame on you!
(14) 2007-01-04 20:38:50
Sam: Quote

This was the response of an Israeli working to end Israeli Aparthide:

...Every ruler has to commit many deeds that would be crimes if done by ordinary citizens. Deeds of rulers are to be summed up and weighted for good and for bad some years later, in historical perspective. The Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai answered a question about the French revolution of 1789 with “Too early to say”.

We should know about Saddam Hussein that he died with confession of faith, shahada on his lips, that his last words were ‘God is great’ and his last thoughts were about our beloved Palestine. We know that he did not surrender but was captured by the invader. It is forbidden to kill a prisoner of war, it is forbidden to kill a prince, it is forbidden to kill a captive prince. This lawless killing will suffice to call him a martyr.

He was not different from many Palestinian martyrs assassinated by Zionists. Arafat, poisoned by Sharon http://www.uruknet.info/?p=29419 , Abu Jihad shot by Barak, Sheikh Yassin killed by a missile, dozens of others – Saddam belongs to this group. They fought, they were heavily demonised by the enemy, they died and sanctified God with their death.

But if one wants to look beyond the bottom line, Saddam was a leader who eliminated illiteracy, gave health care to his people, gave free education, allowed women to participate in social life, turned his country into one of the most advanced in the Middle East. He was one who sent his missiles to Israel, and caused the peace process to start. Without his SCUDs, Israelis wouldn’t make peace with the PLO in 1993.

There are many decisions he made and came to regret. But I am not sure now is the time to deal with them. When a man is demonised by the enemy, we are tempted to safeguard our judgement by saying “He was a bad man but”. Usually there are good reasons for this caution for poets, dissidents and fighters against empire are often troublesome men, even more so if they accessed to power. But we should fight this temptation. They are not persecuted and demonised because they were unfaithful to their wives, but because they were faithful to their people, their country, their muse. If and when mausoleum of Saddam will be constructed in centre of Baghdad, then the time will come to speak of his faults, not now. Not for one minute, not by a single word would I like to support the official narrative.

There are some Iraqis who have a legitimate grievance against the late leader. Every ruler leaves a lot of suffering in his wake. These grievances are exploited by the enemy. But wise people should try to help and overcome this feeling. When Hitler invaded Russia, he tried to exploit grievances many people had against Stalin and Communism. Those who succumbed to his temptation ended as traitors to their country. Those who refused it won their souls and their place in history. Ivan Bunin, a great Russian writer, a Nobel prize winner and an enemy of Stalin and communism, came to the Soviet embassy and swore allegiance to Stalin, when the fate of Russia was in doubt. Now great Iraqis should follow the same line, and stop bickering about Saddam. They have a bigger job: to defeat the Empire and to set Iraq free.
(15) 2007-01-05 00:15:32
ali: Quote

My view:

I am happy this evil tyrant saddam is dead and I look forward to all the other tyrants going in a similar way.

This maybe how Allah swt deals with those who attack His deen and those who kill and torture not only those who resisted him (both shia and sunni) but also their children and family and relatives. This is the evil of saddam.

Also, just because he said the shahada does not mean he has repented. It may simply mean he wanted to be remembered as a martyr so that people would continue to praise him. These arab leaders love praise.

And if he truley repented, why did he not say he was sorry for the murders and injustices he commited?

So for me, who is a sunni iraqi, I repeat that i am happy to see one evil tyrant destroyed by Allah Almighty, and lookforward to the others going down in a similar way.

Perhaps Allah swt made his death by the same people who put him in power in the first place, as a lesson to those who think that if america support them, they will have imunity from Allah swt. How wrong they are. He swt can make the same agent that raised them to power, over throw them and destroy them too. This may be how Allah swt chose to remove evil. Wa Allahu A'lem.

And to Jahanam to all evil tyrants especially Bush , Blair and Olmert, as well as their goats in the muslim world who call themselves leaders and presidents and kings.

May Allah swt replace the downed evil with Good. Ameen.

Salam

ali
(16) 2007-01-05 20:15:01
Abu Adil: Quote

Well.. all i want to say is Saddam went with his head high.. the person who recorded on his mobile phone has helped saddam become a hero and a martyr in the muslim world although i am sure that was not the intention of the mobile film.. But they plan and Allah plans and Allah s.w.t is the best of PLanners. Saddams enemy's were used to show his last moments that would make him a hero. I dont thnk Muqtada or the rest of the cronies will get this respect..Allahuma ansural mujahideen fee kuli makaan..ameen
(17) 2007-01-06 11:00:36
Kathy: Quote

Abu Adil

You are so right. Saddam is dead. He has paid for his terrible deeds but the images of him facing his death with dignity will always remain with us. In years to come when people speak of him, I am sure that most of us will remember him with his head held high as they placed the noose around his neck. No doubt that fool who wanted to belittle him is now regretting that he made him into a hero. Let us see if those others who have killed innocent Iraqis, including Bush and Blair, can face their Maker in such a way.
(18) 2007-01-06 17:25:19
Africana: Quote

hussein: & the commenters like him

Learn the Islamic teachings before you export your mtv crap.

I support anf like my solidarity to the
iraqsolidaritycampaign.blogspot.com
Educate & Inform yourself: The glaring mis-representation in this piece is that his ministers, the officers in his army and the police force consisted mostly of Sunnis. In fact, 60% of the Republican Guard officers were Shia. As were two-thirds of the ambassadors to the U.N. during Saddam’s tenure. Iraq’s mouthpiece to the world in March and April 2003, Mohamed Sahaff (The Iraqi Information Minister) is Shia. In the infamous deck of 55 playing cards, 35 individuals were Shia. Maybe Simpson should take a few minutes and read about Iraq before he makes such preposterous allegations.

Bruce Shapiro wrote, in the article, "Rule of Noose:"

If Iraqi executioners have a particular expertise with the gallows, it is because Saddam gave his country so much practice. Hanging, shooting, gassing, beating, Saddam and his agents were masters of them all. Saddam, depraved and sadistic, was the polar opposite of the banal bureaucratic evil Hannah Arendt famously saw in Adolph Eichmann.

Shapiro packed much vile into such a short span of words. "Depraved and sadistic" stick out. But, I’m sure Shapiro does not have a degree in psychology. Like Juan Cole, he dissects Saddam’s brain. On December 30, 2006, the only "depraved and sadistic" Iraqis we saw were the ones taunting Saddam and pulling the lever for his hanging.

WHAT THE SCRIBES SAY
Malcom Lagauche

How come there is no wisdom from the likes of hussein? when will you show some sense?
(19) 2007-01-07 19:21:50
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